Ferries
Ferries are ships of various size, which carry passengers, and in some cases vehicles, between ports on a schedule. They are typically motor ships, though some heritage routes can be run by steam ships, or even sailing vessels, and some remote ones can use human propulsion.
While some ferries are open-deck vessels which cross a narrow strait for daily commuting, others have cabins and other amenities, similar to cruise ships or ocean liners, and might be tourist attractions in their own right. On rivers and lakes and in coastal archipelagos there may be ferries that are part of the local public transportation network, sometimes called water buses.
UnderstandReliability is a consideration: ferries may be cancelled or delayed due to bad weather, sometimes for weeks on end in winter, or may just be inexplicably late like every other form of transport.
Ferry networksIf you travel by road or rail, it's obvious from the map where your route lies, and it's unlikely to change much from year to year.
Tourist attractions
Urban ferriesSome cities have ferry services that are an integral part of the city's public transportation network, and used by many local residents to commute to and from work.
Get inTickets: it's as variable as on other modes of transport.
Buy, eat, and drinkFacilities aboard can differ a lot; while you will be lucky to find a toilet on a small ferry, a larger ferry can have a whole shopping mall aboard. International ferries might have duty-free shopping, or a casino.
SleepSome ferries on longer routes have cabins and other facilities that are close to those on a cruise ship.
ConnectOnce a couple of kilometers off the coast mobile phone connections will often not work. Ferries with crossings longer than an hour sometimes provide Wi-Fi connections.
Stay safeAvoid the open deck in harsh weather and perhaps at night.
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Ferries" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Estormiz, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons